Generally, this Ancient Minoan site is referred to as the Palace of Knossos and, in researching the trip, I discovered a bit about the site to the point that I wasn’t all that keen on seeing it. Whilst I say that my travel passion is all things Ancient Greek and Ancient Egyptian it isn’t strictly true. I love all things Ancient so why not lump the Minoan civilisation into the mix?

The bigger problem I had with visiting the site (other than not knowing anything about the Minoans as a people) was what I’d read about Arthur Evans and his archaeological find. From everthying I’d read, he had moved items, rebuilt things and generally made assumptions that have later been proven wrong. I didn’t want to see that. In Athens, I hated the Roman Forum where Ancient pillars had clearly been rebuilt with wrong materials (but then I also hated how some ancient building foundations had a metro system cut it in half).

I appreciate why these rebuilds are done because otherwise its just a bunch of ruins. Except it isn’t with a bit of knowledge and imagination. Some of the places in Greece and Rome might not look as impressive as things in Egypt but that doesn’t mean it should all be faked. I think I also became biased by the travel guides all complaining about Evans’ errors. It doesn’t get you all excited.

But then I got there and a lot of it still looked ruiny to me. Plus the guide on tbe Thomson/First Choice excursion was fantastic and really explained the Minoan way of life. It had never occured to me that it was so different to the Ancient Greek civilisation. The biggest plus with our tour guide was that she really explained why Evans made the errors that he did. It wasn’t fully through lack of knowledge or ignorance of another civilisation’s history. It wasn’t even all because of bare faced assumptions. It was around the turn of the century where eveything was changing. Women were ladies and men were men. Everything was kings and queens where everyone remained in their places. But it would be less than two decades before a new form of war craft would alter the world and everyone’s roles would change. Kings and queens would no longer be what they were, the world would never be the same again and Arthur Evans had found what everyone else wanted him to call a palace with a king’s throne room and a queen’s throne room – because everywhere needed a palace, kings and queens.

This was assumed to be the Queen’s room with the pretty dolphin fresco that was found on the floor. Except why would a Queen’s Megaron be that small and have three doors leading from it?

First of all, I’m used to the ruins on top of a hill being a place of worship, it being the closest place to the heavens and the gods. Not that it’d be a palace for kings. That’s not the Greek way. And so, under the pressure of the changing world and those around him, Evans moved baths to put it closer to his queen’s room. He moved artwork found on the floor and put it on the wall where it clearly belonged. Except it didn’t and his core set of rules by which he was playing, that by which he was judging the Minoans where wrong. We now know that and the place didn’t look all that bad.

There were obvious differences between the newer and older construction but in places it gave for a better feel and atmosphere. The differences with the Minoans and Greek were huge. The Minoans are theorised to have more of a community way of life in that women died younger in those days especially if they have given birth. The children were then raised by other women within the community. It was all really fascinating.

The North entrance would be from the sea and would welcome all visitors to the city/island. They would walk up through and past the fresco of the charging bull.

The bull was sacred to the Minoans and celebrated throughout Knossos where both men and women, due to gender equality, performed bull leaping.

Unfortunately it was all so fascinating that I was too busy listening and looking and ended up not getting many pictures. Especially as the tour guide failed in telling us that there would be no “free time”. What made this worse was that we were then taken into Heraklion (the island’s capital) to have lunch and see the sights. You might remember from my earlier posts on Crete that it was in Heraklion that I wanted to go to the museum. Except it was a Monday and museums aren’t open on a Monday. The fact that Thomson failed to tell me that (or remind me of what day was what on holiday) was pretty disppointing and there was very little to do.

This was erected between 1523 and 1540 and opposite the fortress is the arsenal where ships would be repaired and built.

Across the small harbour from the fortress, the arsenal is where the ships would be built and later repaired.

So we wandered around for three hours – three! – and saw some of the Venetian walls and fort, none of which looked as good as Rethmyno town which we opted to not visit.

The whole holiday wasn’t a complete fail, but it also wasn’t the best holiday and all because of the excursions. Still, I’m already looking into which island to visit next!

I fully admit that I had no real idea quite what this excursion would entail. It wasn’t quite what I thought it would be, I might not have done it if I’d have known the truth but I am so glad I did it and would do something similar again.

It all starts at 4,100 feet, the mountains opposite still snow-capped, and then the descent begins. Our journey down started at about 9 and so the sun was already quite bright. The immediate downward journey on the huge steps, xyloskalo. Is quite bloody scary. Or at least I found it bloody scary. The railings are wooden, wobbly in places and non-existent in other places. At some of the turns on the steps the view is straight down. I’m not scared of heights but I always panic when up high. Usually of dropping things off. This part was possibly the prettiest but I was too busy concentrating.

Nearer the bottom the path becomes vary slightly more stable, although don’t let that fool you – one wrong foot anywhere in the gorge can involve the rock rolling and your foot goes with it! The paths become longer and the rocks you’re walking on become bigger with an element of stability. The path also becomes less path-like and more field of rocks over which you can pick your own path. It becomes more interesting. The views up are still fantastic but I do fear that I missed things in my initial terror.

This was where I had built my confidence and easily started making up for my initial slow pace. I’m not unfit and was pleased that I didn’t to take rests at any of the designated rest sites. It’s not all downhill though, there is a definite uphill section and none of it is purely up, down or flat. In fact I found that uphill felt safer and I had more confidence. Except it was on an uphill part that my husband fell over bruising and grazing himself.

Is it all just rocks? Kinda. You’re in a gorge so there is greenery and flowers but depending on your pace, concentration and fear levels depends on whether you notice everything. I’m sure that I missed a lot. And seeing as we completed it in under five hours perhaps we should have relaxed a bit. The problem is that even four hours is a long time. Even with breaks. It starts to get hot. There’s not much shade some times. The wind gets really strong through the thinnest section of the gorge and sometimes the river is fast and deep where you’re trying to cross it.

The river and small waterfalls are possibly the visually loveliest part of the walk and I lost track of the number of times we crossed it. I do know that all crossings are by stepping stones or planks of wood. I also now know that trainers can easily have their grip worn down during the walk which increases the chances of slipping off stones. Yes it happened to me but I remained on my feet. My slip did make me concerned that I could properly fall in. It made ne wary and cautious again. But for all my fears, caution and jars to my feet and ankles (almost badly sprained my right ankle but forced myself to walk on it) other people were wearing sandals or had young children with them and although there’s a helicopter on stand by no one got injured on the day I was there.

The worst thing, even worse than the pain and dirty feeling, was that there was no way out until half 5 which is also the last time to get out. Miss that ferry and you’re sleeping on the beach. This is the same if you’re on an excursion or doing it yourself. Consider walking up the gorge if you’re experienced. We sat around for three hours waiting for the hour ferry journey and then sat on a coach for 3 hours.

This was probably the worst part of the trip if not the whole holiday – we got up at 5am, finished the gorge at half one and didn’t get back to the hotel until 9pm. The length of the day and full disclosure of the timings of the day weren’t given to us by Thomson/first choice and that was hugely disappointing and did mar the day. Nothing will take away the feeling of accomplishment at managing what I did though. I would consider doing it with public bus or private tour to prevent wasting so much of the day at both ends.

This was an organised excursion through thomson/first choice that I hadn’t really wanted to do beforehand, but after missing out on Phaestos and Gortys, I agreed to this trip. So after a whole day relaxing by the pool we set off on a trip to Hania via Souda Bay and followed by a visit to a small family business where they make olive oil, raki, ouzo and wine.

As the first stop, Souda Bay was possibly my favourite place of the day and I really had not expected that. It’s a simple stop and there is little point in staying there too long. It’s a war cemetery for the allied forces that lost their lives during WW2 on Crete. I believe there’s also a German cemetery further west. The immaculate and uniformed rows of headstones aren’t all labelled but a good portion are and there are lovely poetic red flowers blooming in and around them. At least they were blooming when I was lucky enough to visit.

From Souda Bay we continued west to Hania and, I have to say, at first I was disappointed. I think the memories of Rhodes were far too prominent in my mind becausr I was expecting Hania’s Venetian fortress to be like the walls of Rhodes old town. Except they’re barely even still there. I was expecting the ‘brilliant’ shopping of Hania to resemble the winding atmospheric traditional lanes of Rhodes old town. Nope. Not that shopping on holiday excites me. It just didn’t look how I’d pictured it. I was picturing Rhodes!

Not wanting to shop or go in the museum (because all the books say Heraklion’s are better) we opted to wander around the harbour and find somewhere to have lunch. It might have been touristy and not 100% traditional but the lunch we shared felt pretty damn Greek to me. We shared a mixed grill and it was meatylicious! Plus we got to watch the world go by until we walked along the harbour front with all the Venetian facade buildings.

We did then spend a little bit too long waiting for the coach as did quite a few others. Which perhaps wasn’t made better by the final stop. I did find the methods for making raki and ouzo fascinating (I must still try raki) but it wasn’t essential and was not on the itinerary along with the twenty odd minutes that we got to spend at lake Kournas – it was a lake!

In the end I enjoyed the trip more than I had expected but in hindsight I might not do it again. The fantastically relaxed meal by the harbour could have been done anywhere and the raki making wasn’t good enough. Souda Bay was definitely worth a visit but could perhaps have been done on public transport. So, this Thomson excursion was a bit of a bust.

Crete was the second Greek Island I’ve so far been fortunate to get to visit and my third time in Greece all together as I started my obsession with all things Greek in 2009 on my honeymoon to Athens. The first island I was able to tick off of my wish list was Rhodes which I visited last April and the other week I spent a whole seven days in Crete.

I mainly travel to see the ancient sights and then other famous sights by default, so I picked Crete for Knossos and then decided afterwards that I also had to see the Samaria Gorge whilst there. I’d also wanted to visit Phaestos and Gortys (Ancient Roman and Greek sites, with Knossos being earlier still and Minoan), but the holiday company I was with weren’t running trips to either of them and other companies were but on the wrong days. I guess that’s the problem with picking one side of a fairly large island, and only visiting for one week if certain trips are only on one day of the week. There wasn’t much I could do about it other than rewind time, learn to drive and then hire a car out there although the winding mountain roads are bloody scary so it might not have solved anything.

Needless to say the inability to visit these two locations did put a little dampner on my trip and, along with the Knossos and Gorge trips, I also booked a trip to Hania, which I had not been fussed about.

We stayed in a lovely small-ish all inclusive hotel just outside of Rethymno town centre, although we did not make it into Rethymno itself (which in hindisght was probably an error, oh for more than 7 days!) even when we were told that the Olympic flame was passing through on our first day there! I’ve stayed in quite a few all inclusives now and like them for certain types of holidays. Holidays for me are either city breaks (Rome, Paris, Athens) where there’s a good public transport system, English isn’t uncommon and I can wander around on my own – or at least with my husband or friends. Then there are the beach holidays, the relaxation holidays where not every day is jam packed with places to visit and things to see. My husband prefers these, but after a holiday to Domincan Republic where we spent 14 days sitting by a pool, I refused to do a whole holiday of nothing.

This is the smallest pool (freshwater), shaped perfectly for lane swimming, which is what I used it for. Would have loved one of the apartments that opened up onto it!

He “allowed” me three days of trips/excursions on this holiday, as long as the other three full days consisted of him sitting in a pool bar drinking as mauch as he wanted. We both like to be in all inclusives and not have to worry about where to find food at night, or how much money it will all cost. Although, in Greece especialy, I do like to branch out to somewhere else for at least one meal for a more authentic feel. Usually there’s at least one day of the husband sitting in the pool bar from as early as they open until I drag him out as the sun’s setting. In fact, more often than not as soon as breakfast is done, he’s by the pool drinking beer whilst I’m drinking water – oddly I seem to think that water is good for during the day when the sun’s hot!

We opted for the Greek night in the taverna (one night in the taverna free per week for AI), but the food wasn’t all that brilliant and I preferred the main restaurant.

The hotel we stayed in – the Aquila Rethymno – was different to other all inclusives that we’ve been to. Perhaps because it’s also half board, but there are no pool bars (a huge shock to my husband), but a very lovely beach bar, which was far nicer than any other beach bar we’ve been to. I put it down to a certain little bit more class than other AIs, just in that no one could sit in a pool all day long without even getting out to urinate. That being said there weren’t that many toilets outside so perhaps they should have ignored that. In the end I quite liked the slightly classier feel to the alcohol side of things. Yes, on our first evening I was a bit concerned with the guidance that even on AI, certain drinks had to be paid for in the restaurant even when they’re free in the bar. It didn’t include wine and in some respects should you be drinking spirits whilst eating your evening meal?

The sea was really rough, but there were people in it despite how the waves breaking easily kept knocking them to the ground.

The whole ambience of the hotel seemed nicer than most other places we’ve stayed in and I really loved the hotel. It’s one of the first that I’ve said I’d go back to, if I were one to re-visit a holiday destination, which given the things I wanted to see and missed perhaps I will. It wasn’t completely perfect but I’m not sure where is. For example, I found it kind of odd that the bedrooms were carpeted, but with people encouraged to not walk through the reception and hotel wet from swimming, bedroom floors aren’t likely to get wet. And the carpets made a refreshing change from the oft used floor tiles which are always cold on your feet no matter the climate.

The lack of bars during the day (the interior lobby bar doesn’t open until about 4pm) is made up with the fact that there are three outdoor swimming pools (one of which is salt water) and during the week we were there, barely had anyone in. The beach is part of the resort and not across a main road or a few blocks walk away and is private for the Aquila and whilst there is a main-ish road out the front if you’ve got a sea view room it’s barely audible – I had more problems from the noise of the birds waking me up or the bar music keeping me awake. And the noisy bar was my only real complaint and that was only because it was loud one night until 1am and I was up at 5am for the Samaria Gorge walk. Other nights it was just as noisy, but I slept through it or stayed up without caring, the night I needed to get ready for the longest walk of my life, I cared!

This is the view to the right from our balcony with the lobby beneath. Very nice place to relax but could be a bit noisy at night.

The balcony view to the left, the beach!

The food in the main restaurant was more than fine. Every dinner they had the same spaghetti option along with plain rice and then various other varied foods. I can be a bit picky with meat and there was only one evening where I didn’t want to eat anything other than vegetables (and spaghetti, which I could have eat every evening!). Breakfasts were the same every morning and the standard choices of bacon, sauages, eggs (fried, scrambled, boiled), beans, mini pancakes (with syrup) and the usual variety of croissants, cake and bread. It’s also standard because it isn’t “british” bacon or “british” suasages, but as with any AI it has to cater for all tastes and although I could have done with a proper fry up, I was happy to settle for mini chipped potatoes rather than hash browns. Lunch times were the only time I saw chips and both lunch and dinner had a nice variety of puddings – I love baklava! And apple cake! And the cherry cream cake thing they had! There’s also fresh fruit at every meal.

I created this in the main restaurant with the plain and bolognaise sauce, sweetcorn from the salad bar, meatballs and pureed garlic from the side. It was scrummy!

For once I didn’t over indulge completely on food, which might suggest that they didn’t have enough yummy choices for me, but I was actually pleased. Nothing jumped out as being authentically Greek, but AI never have to me so it wasn’t a problem. I got the real taste and flavours of Greece on the excursions I did, more of which later!

~ Persephone M

The balcony view to the left, the beach!

I created this in the main restaurant with the plain and bolognaise sauce, sweetcorn from the salad bar, meatballs and pureed garlic from the side. It was scrummy!

We opted for the Greek night in the taverna (one night in the taverna free per week for AI), but the food wasn’t all that brilliant and I preferred the main restaurant.

This is the smallest pool (freshwater), shaped perfectly for lane swimming, which is what I used it for. Would have loved one of the apartments that opened up onto it!

This is the view to the right from our balcony with the lobby beneath. Very nice place to relax but could be a bit noisy at night.

The sea was really rough, but there were people in it despite how the waves breaking easily kept knocking them to the ground.

So, I’m back from my holidays and thought I should drop back in on civilisation! I actually managed an entire week (almost 8 whole days) without any form of technology other than an ipod and cameras! There was even a television in the hotel room which was never even turned on. That has to be some sort of record for me.

I took a notebook but didn’t even look in it and had no creative thoughts whatsoever (take that to be good or bad). Unless you count the creative processes behind some of the photos I took. It was a good week though. Three days involved excursions – including a 13 mile walk through a Gorge – and three days simply sitting by the pool/beach. I’m planning on posting photos and blogs with regards to what I did and where we went (visited Hania, Heraklion and the Samaria Gorge), but I didn’t get chance to play with the cameras last night when I got back.

It was quite unusual because our flight landed at 1630 and we were home within two hours. We’ve never come home during daylight before and it was odd, although I hadn’t thought far enough ahead to consider the traffic/rush hour aspect! Oops. I did have the foresight to know that I wouldn’t be willing to really cook when we got in so there were some frozen pizzas ready and waiting for me in the freezer. I am already having with withdrawal to all the food I was eating. So far today I’ve had a sandwich, some pineapple and a banana; I was having a plate of crossiants and pastries followed by a plate of full English. And that was just for breakfast. Bit of a change.

I just have to say, for the soppiness out there, the beast thing about my arrival home was that the foster children were still up and I was able to have the biggest cuddles ever from them both! The younger one even tried to tell me that they were still up waiting for me and then got this really cute, shy look when we accused them of fibbing. It was a fib! But still so very cute.

The best thing I can say about the holiday (which will be explained later) is that, my husband tried to fall off a mountain and I tried to walk through a river rather than across it on a bridge!

Now, fingers crossed that this email post works, the categories and tags I attempt to use work and that I actually get my lazy finger out of my bum and post about the holiday and books I read. Oh, also cross your fingers that I actually figure out what to do with my 365 project blog which is, in two words, an Epic Fail!

I booked my early summer holiday last weekend. After spending the week after Christmas trawling through my holiday guides, buying a few more and picking up brochures, I set my mind on Crete. I then decided on something a little different for my Monday Memories category because there’s not much about my recent travels (or older travels) on here.

Apparently I went to Crete when I was very little – far too little to remember, although we do have photos of me on a wind-surfer with some man. Don’t ask!

It’s quite exciting really – I’ll be able to cross off another of my Greek Island list and some more ancient Greek sites. For my honeymoon, my husband and I went to Egypt and Athens for all the sites. After the amazing Athens, last year I picked Rhodes and I was so impressed.

Rhodes old town is a Medieval town dating back to the Knights of St John and is technically too “late” for the time periods I love, but whilst there I was stunned and fell in love. People still live in the tiny homes built originally hundreds of years ago with the thinnest “roads” I have ever seen. It’s mainly all cobbled and the rows of buildings are strengthened by arches across the roads. It’s a fantastic thing to see, made even more crazy looking by the lack of cars aside from some very custom built ones.

Street of the Knights in Rhodes Old Town

The moat is dry, but there are still bridges and gates leading into the town and it’s not hard to imagine it in its heyday – a true fortified city. I was lucky enough to have two afternoons free time to wander around and only got caught in a bit of rain once! There are some older sites hiding in there, too, but most of it in the main town got built over and people still live there so they can’t go excavating. The museums were a bit of a let down, but were a distraction from the rain.

One of the bridges and gates into the city - possibly St John's

Before we went out there, I had already booked an afternoon and evening trip to Rhodes Old Town and a morning trip to Lindos to satisfy my “ancient” needs. Lindos is this amazingly tall little town, which at the bottom has windy little thin blocks of shops and homes again. Similar to Rhodes Town, it’s very odd walking around it in these narrow little lanes which to the inhabitants are main streets. It was a lot like little market areas here, but their town!

The overview of Lindos village from the acropolis 125m above it. It was among one of the most sacred sites in the ancient world.

Part of Lindos is from the Knights era, including the steps up it. I have to admit that I don’t mind being up high, but I don’t really like getting up there and walking the sometimes smooth steps with no railings and only a stumble away was a bit scary. Eventually you get up to the top and through the more “modern” areas to find yourself at the top and presented with the acropolis. It was that stuff that I went for!

Just some of the stairs leading up to the acropolis at Lindos

We went in April, over Easter, and so the weather wasn’t amazing – rain and cloud on and off. But, what this also meant was barely anyone there so photos of popular sites with no one else in and not having to struggle with the high summer temperatures and trying to climb to the top of anything. The pool was a bit chilly, but I was happy to sit and read after I got my trips sorted out.

This temple ruin is from the the third century BC and is just outside of Rhodes main town.

The other amazing thing about it being Easter was how the Christian people there celebrate it. We didn’t get to see any of the Good Friday or Easter Sunday processions, but on the second day in Rhodes Town, we were greeted by palm leaves strewn across the archways and fantastic paintings on them.

Just one of the images used with palm leaves.

Unfortunately for my husband, the hotel had a second trip that we didn’t know about until we got there which did the other coast of the island. Now, this took me to Kameiros which I had read about and was determined to see. It was a trek of a day, travelling between many many little towns (which really showed how the inhabitants really live) up and down into hills (didn’t help my headache), but I loved it. I consider myself quite fit, but walking to the top of that hill so I could look down on the remains of the ancient city, did take the puff out of my lungs!

Ancient Kameiros was possibly destroyed by a large earthquake in 142BC

I loved so much about the island of Rhodes – the view from my balcony of the sea beating down on rocks, the little walk to a rocky outcrop for some “rock-climbing”, to the ancient and slightly newer sites, the food and the quietness of being off season. I’m so glad that I’d already set my heart on visiting more Greek islands and my fingers are crossed that Crete can live up to the memories of Rhodes.

The lowest point on the Western coast - Monolithos and a sheer drop!

I’ll be in another all inclusive hotel, just outside of a little town which apparently has a nice harbour (Rhodes Town harbour) where I can perhaps try and eat an authentic little Greek meal because AI isn’t always that great. I don’t need a beach that’s swimmable, but one that has character and something unique about it – picturesque – is important. Funky chairs in the bar area is always fun and the sites of Knossos, Phaestos and Gortys could easily rival Lindos and Kameiros. Lastly, Crete has some of the best flora and fauna, I’ve read, so maybe I’ll even persuade the husband to come walk a gorge with me. What’s even better is this year I’ve opted for May – trying to balance the quiet of April with a bit more of the sun from July/August.

I was thinking up ideas for blog entries and from out of nowhere, I decided on Eleven Memories of 2011 and it’s companion blog, Twelve Things To Come – 2012.

Neither list is supposed to be all good or all bad. I’m aiming for a mixture. I could have opted for 11 things to be thankful for this year, or 12 things to look forward to, 11 things I wish hadn’t happened or 12 things I hope won’t happen! Instead, this is just a list of memories to remind me of the year.

I created this blog purely for poetry, it soon evolved into the collection it now is. Thank you for everyone who has ever read any entry, made a comment or follow it. 🙂

Finally, I went to Rome and saw everything I’ve spent years wanting to visit there.

I fell in love with a digital SLR that I bought. I’m quite addicted to it.

After buying my husband a telescope for Christmas in 2010, 2011 saw me seeing Jupiter, its spot and its moons. Wow.

I bought a new house! And it took me two months to get it ready for renting!

About April/May my husband learnt he was going to be made redundant in August. I spent a few months incredibly worried until he started a new job in July and he much prefers the new one!

A television show that I would never normally watch introduced me to the amazing book series A Song of Ice and Fire. I fell in love with the world created.

A three year old projectile vomited on me and I didn’t panic. Or vomit myself.

I visited a gym for the first time ever and jogged for 15 minutes straight which is a personal first. It didn’t become a regular occurrence.

For the first time, I attempted to grow my own veg at home. It wasn’t a total success, but I am willing to try it again!

I was lucky enough to visit Rhodes just before Easter and saw the amazing decorations in the old city, something not many tourists get to see. It was stunning!

Persephone's Musings

Sometimes, I take photos. Sometimes, I write poems. Sometimes, I just blabber on. I've dealt with loss and desire for the mundane. Most of the time I work through it. Or I photograph it. Or write a poem about it.

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All poetry contained within this poetry blog is property of Muse Persephone. Images linked from Flickr to here are also copyrighted to Muse Persephone unless otherwise stated. All rights reserved and any reproduction of the works within is strictly prohibited.